The invention relates to vehicle frames and, more particularly, to truck frames and methods of constructing such frames, including supports.
A conventional truck frame includes a pair of generally parallel side rails with a plurality of cross member assemblies extending there between. The side rails are C shaped and open inwardly toward the other side rail or are boxed in cross section.
Various devices need to be attached to the side rails. Such devices include the cross member assemblies and brackets for supporting springs, the engine, body mounts. etc. In prior art constructions, such as Wallace U.S. Pat. No. 2,173,525, supports have been attached to boxed side rails in the following manner. A box member includes an outboard wall, a top wall, a bottom wall, and an inboard wall spaced from the outboard wall. A box member can be a tube or an assembly of two channels. Openings are cut in the inboard wall and in the outboard wall, such that a support can be passed through both openings. After being passed through both openings, the support is welded first to one wall and then to the other wall. Such a method of constructing a support attached to a side rail has had various advantages. The method of construction, however, had disadvantages, for it was difficult to align the inboard wall opening and the outboard wall opening, and to ensure a good weld fit-up of the support to the respective walls. A weld of the support to the wall after the support is placed in the wall opening may result in a weld which only partially extends through the thickness of the wall and only partially into the support, as illustrated in FIG. 9 of the drawings. A larger problem is that to allow for misalignment, at least one hole must be oversized, and the resulting gaps welded up--a poor weld condition. As shown in FIG. 12, it is known to solve this problem with a full collar spacer between the support and the wall. This requires two 360 degree welds and positioning of the extra part.